V 


ADDRESSES  OF  MARION  BUTLER  AND  CYRUS  THOMPSON 


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ADDRESSES 

OF 

Marion    Butler, 

o  President, 

_AND 

Cyrus   Thompson, 

Lecturer, 

TO  THE 


NORTH  CAROLINA 

FflflPflS'    STATE    fllililflJlCE, 


-AT- 


GREENSBORO,  N.  C, 

Aug.  8,  9.  and  10,  1893, 

AT  ITS- 

Seventh  Annual  Session. 


RALEIGH,  N.  C: 

Barnes  Bros.,  Book  &  Job  Printers. 

1893. 


V 


The  Address  of  President  Marion  Butler,  to 
the  North  Carolina  Farmers'  State  Alli- 
ance at  Greensboro,  N.  C. 


Brethren — This  is  an  age  of  organization  and  co-operation. 

That  organization  was  economcial  and  otherwise  beneficial  for  the 
co-operative  advancement  of  Li.utual  interest  was  evident  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago.  It  is  more  evident  to-day.  We  have  reached  that 
point  in  our  civilization,  even  under  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, where  organization  is  not  only  beneficial,  but  also  necessary. 
This  is  true  with  reference  to  every  class  of  our  citizens  and  to  every 
division  of  our  various  industries  and  professions  To  no  one  does 
it  apply  with  more  force  than  to  the  agricultural  and  industrial 
classes.  Yet  they  are  among  the  last  to  avail  themselves  of  the  ad- 
vantage of  organization,  as  well  as  to  learn  the  absolute  necessity 
therefor. 

At  various  instances  of  the  past,  numerous  efforts  to  organize  per- 
manently have  been  made,  and,  with  what  results,  is  a  matter  of 
history  and  is  well  known.  And  while  the  result  is  well  known, 
yet  I  hardly  think  the  cause  of  such  failures  is  generally  understood 
by  us. 

It  is  true,  that  whenever  an  otganization  has  been  started  or  at- 
tempted, that  those  classes  of  our  citizens  who,  being  organized, 
have  had  the  advantage  of  us,  being  unorganized  (and  knowing  that 
organization  on  our  part  would  soon  result  in  increased  intelligence, 
and  therefore  united  action  for  the  protection  of  our  rights  and  in- 
terest,) have  used  every  agency  that  united  brain  coal*  devise  and 
combined  money  could  control,  to  demoralize,  defeat  and  disrupt  the 
organization.  The  newspapers  and  politicians  have  been  largely 
used  to  make  the  attack  from  the  outside  by  misrepresentation  and 
appeals  to  prejudice,  while  the  Judases  in  the  organization,  whose 
price  was  thirty  pieces  of  silver  (more  or  less,)  have  always  been 
found  to  do  the  work  of  spies  and  traitors  on  the  inside* 

But  this  is  not  necessarily  the  cause  of  failures.     The  basic  cause 

that  makes  such  agencies  successful  in  my  opinion  lies  deeper.     In 

fact,  it  is  inherent  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the  majority  of  the  mem- 

^  bers  themselves  of  such  organizations.     It  is  a  cause  produced  by 

.^  our  surroundings  supplemented  by  false  teaching.    It  is  a  cause  that 

£  may  be  termed  a  cumulative  hereditary  trait  of  our  social  char- 

^  acter.     I  refer  to  a  cause  which,  for  the  want  of  name,  I  will  de- 

scribe  as  produced  by  the  want  of  a  sufficient  social  contact,  and  a 


fair  and  tolerant  exchange  of  opinions  and  ideas.  I  refer  to  the 
want  of  cohesion,  to  our  failure  to  pool  our  divergent  opinions  and 
agree  upon  a  common  line  of  action  that  would  represent  the  com- 
bined wisdom  of  all. 

Man  is  a  social  being.  It  is  not  well  for  a  man  to  be  alone, 
neither  is  it  well  for  any  small  number.  For  instance,  for  one 
family  circle  to  be  practically  isolated  from  the  remainder  of  the 
world,  especially  from  other  men  and  families,  living  under  the 
same  conditions,  charged  with  the  same  duties,  and  having  the 
same  destiny. 

When  we  violate  God's  great  social  laws,  when  we  fail  to  put  our 
hearts  next  to  our  neighbors'  hearts,  when  we  fail  to  bring  our  in- 
tellect, in  contact  with  our  neighbors,  then  both  soul  and  the  in- 
tellect, instead  of  developing,  broadening  and  elevating,  making  us 
more  like  our  Maker,  and  becoming  fit  to  work  out  the  highest 
destiny  of  intellectual  Christianity,  our  souls  contract  and  shrivel, 
our  intellects  grow  weak  and  narrow.  Here  is  the  great  trouble, 
the  defect. 

The  bridge  over  this  great  want  of  social  intercourse  in  rural  life, 
to  stimulate  intellectual  development  by  the  contact  of  intellect 
with  intellect,  to  exchange  opinions  so  as  to  avoid  experimental  er- 
rors in  business  as  well  as  to  get  the  benefit  of  a  multitude  of 
counsel  for  future  efforts,  to  learn  the  lesson  of  making  two  blades  of 
grass  grow  where  one  grew  before,  has  been  the  great  object  of  all  of 
the  past  efforts  among  the  agricultural  and  industrial  classes  at 
organization.  And  especially  is  this  the  great  original  purpose  of 
the  Alliance,  and  is  now  the  basic  idea  for  its  perpetual  existence. 

80  we  see  that  the  corner-stones  on  which  the  Alliance  was 
founded  and  is  standing  today,  are  :  First,  social  and  moral  develop- 
ment ;  second,  intellectual  development,  followed  by  co-operation 
in  business  efforts  and  industrial  pursuits. 

In  towns  and  cities  the  various  business,  professional  and  mon- 
opoly organizations  have  for  their  original  purpose  the  second  of 
the  above  objects.  There  a  close  or  compact  population  gives  the 
opportunity  for  social  advantages  without  an  organization  for  that 
specific  purpose.  But  the  organizations  of  towns  and  cities  have 
another  purpose  and  mission,  though  incidental,  yet  highly  impor- 
tant in  a  republican  form  of  government.  What  is  it  ?  It  is  to 
use  the  power  and  influence  of  their  organization  in  the  legislative 
halls,  and  at  the  ballot-box  to  prevent  hostile  legislation  against 
the  class  of  citizens  which  their  organization  represents.  So  far, 
such  use  of  their  power  is  proper  and  necessary,  and  it  is  our  duty 
to  use  our  organization  for  the  same  purpose.  But  prompted  by 
selfishness  and  greed  these  organizations  go  further.  They  use 
their  power  to  inaugurate  and  execute  hostile  legislation  against 
other  classes  not  organized,  or  poorly  organized  and  weak.  The 
latter  exercise  of  this  power  in  defiance  of  right,  but  too  often  un- 
der the  cover  of  unjust  laws,  is  the  snake  in  our  body  politic,  and 
the  curse  of  our  civilization.  This  is  the  frightful  game  where  the 
big  fish  eat  the  smaller  fish,  and  then  turn  to  eat  each  other.  We 
have  seen  this  game  played  with  growing  force  and  intensity,  and 
for  the  last  few  months  we  have  seen  it  in  its  most  frightful  aspect. 


None  have  suffered  more  from  this  evil  condition,  as  a  rule,  than 
the  industrial  and  agricultural  classes — the  bone  and  sinew,  the 
wealth  producers  of  the  land.  Yet,  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of 
numbers,  none  were,  and  are  today  better  able,  not  only  to  protect 
themselves,  but  to  force  justice  to  be  done  to  all  other  classes  alike. 
That  we  have  failed  in  this,  is  little  short  of  crime.  A  crime  not 
only  against  those  dependent  upon  us,  but  against  all  oppressed  and 
suffering  humanity. 

But  why  have  we  failed  ?  The  basic  cause  lies  m  the  cumulative 
hereditary  defect  of  ourselves.  The  isolated  lives  we  have  lived  has 
resulted  in  each  one  following  his  own  way,  unaided  and  unguided 
by  the  wisdom  that  comes  from  the  association  of  ideas.  And  be- 
sides, we  have  nursed  our  own  opinions,  or  somebody  else's  opin- 
ions were  furnished  us,  which  we  thought  were  our  own,  until  we 
have  grown  dogmatic  and  intolerant  of  the  opinions  of  others.  We 
have  not  pooled  our  intellects  and  manhood,  we  have  fought  single 
handed  and  alone  had  been  beaten  in  detail.  Past  organizations 
and  lodges  of  the  present  organization,  the  Alliance,  have  disbanded 
because  every  man  could  not  see  alike  and  agree.  Our  intellects 
are  made  different.  We  were  not  intended  to  see  alike,  we  were 
intended  to  differ,  and  in  differing  to  find  the  truth,  or  at  least  a 
safe  line  of  action  between  our  divergent  opinions.  All  other 
classes  and  organizations  have  learned  the  use  and  value  of  diver- 
gent opinions,  and  have  learned  the  perfection  of  human  wisdom 
from  organization,  by  acting  as  a  unit  on  a  line  of  action,  that  was 
the  combined  wisdom  of  all,  though  it  did  not  represent  the  indi- 
vidual opinion  of  a  single  member  of  their  organization.  They  have 
practiced  co-operation  themselves,  but  have  preached  competition 
to  us,  Competition  is  destructive — it  is  the  devils  game.  When 
we  learn  this  lesson,  when  we  overcome  this  fatal  defect  in  our  own 
organization,  and  unlearn  the  false  education  that  has  been  taught 
us  by  selfish  and  designing  monopoly,  when  we  begin  to  practice 
co-operation,  we  will  not  only  be  able  to  protect  ourselves,  but  to 
advance  our  mutual  interests.  Then  we  will  not  only  be  prosper- 
ous, but  also  well  nigh  invincible. 

And  though  every  effort  at  organization  in  the  past  has  failed, 
yet  every  effort  has  done  good,  every  effort  has  to  a  certain  extent 
overcome  the  fatal  defect  and  taught  us  the  folly  and  danger  of 
competition  and  the  value  of  possibilities  of  co-operation.  The 
same  cause  that  produced  the  other  organizations  produced  the  Al- 
liance, but  the  cause  is  intensified  ;  the  same  defect  that  made  the 
other  organizations  fail  may  wreck  this  organization,  but  the  de- 
fect is  growing  less — is  disappearing.  We  believe  that  the  time  has 
come,  that  the  hour  has  struck,  when  the  people's  organization  un- 
der the  guidance  of  a  Divine  Providence  will  be  successful — will  be- 
come permanent.  But  let  this  be  as  it  may,  let  every  reformer  feel 
that  it  is  our  duty  to  press  forward — the  Lord  helps  those  who  help 
themselves.  Let  every  reformer  buckle  on  his  armour  with  new 
zeal.  The  struggle  will  be  great,  but  the  results  will  be  greater. 
The  result  will  be  justice  and  liberty,  or  oppression  and  servitude. 
We  have  so  long  allowed  other  classes,  organized  to  control  Leg- 
islatures, Congresses,  and  to  exercise  undue  influence  on  the  Exe- 


cutives  and  the  courts,  and  to  encroach  upon  our  rights  through 
the  form  of  law,  that  today  we  find  heartless  greed  and  souless  mon- 
opoly entrenched  behind  unjust  laws,  and  watching  the  rising  tide 
of  discontent  from  the  millions  they  have  oppressed,  bled,  made 
poor,  and  who  are  well  nigh  desperate.  These  organizations  under- 
stand the  significance  of  this  last  great  uprising  of  the  people. 
They  are  preparing  for  the  struggle.  Kindred  monopolies  are  or- 
ganizing into  associations  of  monopolies  with  one  central  head. 
They  see  that  the  people  are  learning  to  stand  togel her  and  that 
they  may  therefore  succeed.  They  see  that  the  reforms  demanded 
by  the  people  if  successful,  will  force  them  to  discontinue  their 
game  of  speculation  and  wholesale  preying  upon  the  masses.  They 
are  growing  arrogant  as  well  as  more  vigilant  and  subtile. 

And.  still,  at  this  critical  hour,  when  liberty,  justice,  and  even  a 
republican  form  of  government  are  hanging  in  the  balance,  and  it 
seems  that  nothing  can  save  the  people  but  a  united  effort  on  their 
part  to  regain  their  government  and  re-establish  the  principles  of 
Jefferson  and  Jackson,  the  hired  press  and  the  servile  politicians 
howl  that  "the  Alliance  has  gone  into  politics."  They  would  have 
the  people  to  devote  their  whole  time  to  making  more  wheat,  corn, 
cotton  and  tobacco,  while  they  want  you  to  have  confidence  in  them 
to  run  the  government,  to  make  money  scarcer,  to  make  products 
cheaper,  make  debts  bigger,  and  lay  a  larger  tribute  and  a  heavier 
burden  upon  the  masses  for  the  benefit  of  the  monopolies  and  the 
bondholders 

As  your  chief  officer,  as  one  who  at  your  command  has  been  car- 
rying your  banner  and  fighting  for  your  principles  in  the  front 
rank,  as  one  who  has  tried  to  serve  the  organization  and  his  coun- 
try, who  has  seen  the  organization  pass  through  the  trying  ordeal 
of  a  fierce  political  campaign,  and  then,  though  suffering  from  the 
conflict,  begin  to  regrow  and  rebuild.  I  wish  to  say  to  you  that 
the  supreme  duty  of  the  organization  today,  in  my  opinion,  is  to 
throw  its  whole  power  and  influence  to  correct  the  evils  that  have 
grown  up  in  our  government,  to  re-establish  the  principles  of  jus- 
tice so  as  to  make  it  possible  for  the  great  original  purpose  of  the 
organization  to  be  carried  out  to  bless  and  elevate  mankind. 

I  thank  God  there  is  one  man  at  least  outside  of  the  organization, 
whose  commanding  position  and  ripe  years  give  weight  to  his 
words,  who  has  the  wisdom  to  see  and  the  manhood  to  say  that 
such  is  the  great  duty  of  the  Alliance  at  this  hour.  I  refer  to  Sen- 
ator Zebulon  B.  Vance. 

But  let  me  beseech  you,  in  striving  to  accomplish  this  high  and 
all  important  duty,  not  to  make  the  organization  apart  of  any  po- 
litical party.  Let  the  organization  give  no  help  or  comfort  to  any 
party,  except  so  far  as  that  party  identifies  itself  with  our  principles 
and  fights  for  our  demands.  Political  parties  are.  necessary.  All 
political  reforms  must  be  gotten  through  such  an  agency.  But  no 
class  of  citizens  can  afford  to  tie  themselves  to  or  belong  to  any  po- 
litical party.  Professional  politicians  too  often  control  them  ;  and 
politicians  act  more  from  a  sense  of  selfishness  and  fear  than  from 
as  uase  of  justice  and  right.  Therefore  let  the  organization  hold 
itself  independent  of  all  political  parties,  and  be  ever  ready  to  help 


to  defeat  or  to  elect  a  party  according  to  the  principles  that  it  holds 
and  acts  on.  By  such  independent  action  only  can  we  purify  poli- 
tics, and  be  able  to  preserve  our  country  and  our  liberties. 

The  partisan — the  political  tool — serves  his  party  right  or  wrpng  ; 
the  highest  type  of  a  patriot  is  a  non-partisan  ;  he  supports  any 
party  that  furthers  the  principles  of  honest  government ;  he  fights 
any  party  that  serves  monopoly  and  cla=s  interest  to  the  detriment 
of  the  people  ;  he  cares  nothing  for  the  name  or  the  label  of  the 
party,  but  whatever  party  his  conscience,  enlightened  by  a  correct 
knowledge  of  facts  shows  him  he  should  support  for  that  one 
election,  he  supports  with  all  the  zeal  and  ability  that  his  Maker 
has  blessed  him  with.  This  I  conceive  to  be  the  duty  of  all  true 
Alliancemen  with  reference  to  politics. 

When  the  political  evils  from  which  we  are  suturing  are  cor- 
rected, then  let  the  organization  give  its  chief  attention  to  its  ori- 
ginal purpose.  But  also  remember  that  it  will  be  ever  necessary 
for  us  to  keep  well  informed  on  political  questions,  and  take  a  keen 
and  active  interest  in  the  actions  of  all  political  parties,  less  the 
enemy  of  the  people  should  then  corrupt  our  government  again. 
Our  victory  so  far  has  come  through  education.  Let  us  spread  re- 
form literature.  We  have  done-  much,  but  we  can  and  should  do 
more.  Your  State  Organ  should  have  forty  thousand  subscribers 
in  this  State. 

I  feel  like  congratulating  the  Alliance  on  its  success  in  political 
reformation  so  far.  For  we  have  succeeded  in  two  very  important 
points — two  points  that  make  genuine  reform  a  certainty  in  the 
near  future. 

First.  We  have  succeeded  in  getting  some  of  the  real  issues  be- 
fore the  people  and  are  clearly  defined. 

Second.  We  have  succeeded  in  getting  the  whole  responsibility 
on  one  political  party. 

The  author  of  the  game  of  shifting  responsibility  is  no  less  a  per- 
sonage than  Satan  himself.  He  commenced  the  game  in  the  gar- 
den of  Eden  and  will  continue  to  try  to  work  it  till  the  end  of  time. 
But  the  politician  is  now  nearing  the  end  of  his  row.  The  party 
now  in  power  must  stand  by  the  people  and  reap  its  reward,  or  it 
must  fail  to  do  so  and  be  swept  out  of  existence. 

Some  true  Alliancemen  have  differed  as  to  methods  and  party 
agencies  in  the  past,  but  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  there  will 
be  no  excuse  or  chance  for  honest  men  to  differ.  Let  every 
reformer  take  fresh  hope  and  courage.  Our  victory  so  far  has  come 
through  education.  Let  us  continue  to  educate.  Let  us  spread 
reform  literature.  We  have  done  much,  but  we  can  and  should  do 
more.  Your  State  Organ  should  have  forty  thousand  subscribers 
in  this  State.  Ye=i,  let  us  continue  to  educate,  let  us  continue  to 
organize,  build  the  organization  stronger  as  well  as  larger.  Stand 
by  your  guns,  press  forward  with  your  banner  and  victory  will 
crown  your  heroic  efforts. 

POLK   MONUMENT. 

Over  a  year  ago  the  most  commanding  figure  and  the  most  mag- 
netic force  in  the  leform  movement  was  called  upon  by  an  unscru- 


6' 

table  Providence  to  lay  down  the  great  work  he  was  doing  for 
humanity.  No  man  in  the  organization  has  had  an  equal  place  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  while  this  is  his  highest  trib'ite  and 
his  proudest  monument,  yet  it  is  a  duty  that  we  owe  ourselves 
more  than  to  him,  that  we  should  give  such  evidence  to  the  remain- 
der of  the  world  of  our  esteem  and  affection  for  him.  Let  us  not 
delay  this  matter.  Let  each  Aliianceman  in  North  Carolina  resolve 
that  before  another  State  Alliance  convenes,  that  a  plain  but-impos- 
ing marble  shaft  shall  mark  the  resting  place  of  L.  L.  Polk. 

RELIEF   FUND. 

When  I  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  relief  fund  a  year 
ago,  it  was  my  idea  that  the  fund  should  be  used  as  a  charity  fund 
only,  that  is,  that  it  should  be  used  to  help  such  as  were  in  enough 
distress  to  make  through  their  lodges  public  appeal  to  the  breth- 
ren for  assistance.  It  was  to  get  rid  of  the  constant  public  appeals 
for  aid  that  the  fund  was  established.  But  I  am  led  to  believe  that 
many  have  appealed  for  help  from  this  fund  who  did  not  belong  to 
the  class  intended  to  be  assisted.  The  result  h*s  been,  that  the 
fund  has  proven  insufficient,  and  many  calls  have  not  been  paid, 
and  some  only  in  part.  I  recommend  that  the  plan  be  abolished, 
unless  it  can  be  so  perfected  that  only  such  as  are  really  needy  or 
in  distress  will  be  helped,  and  that  they  be  helped  alike.  The  latte.1 
object  might  be  accomplished  by  paying  appeals  once  each  quarter, 
and  then  paying  out  pro  rata  the  money  on  hand.  How  the  first 
object  may  be  secured  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  If  you  wish  to 
establish  a  plan  of  insurance,  it  should  be  entirely  separate  and 
distinct  from  the  relief  plan.. 

ROTATION  COUNTY  MEETINGS. 

In  order  that  some  of  the  State  officers  of  the  Vlliance  may  visi- 
every  County  Alliance  at  least  once  a  year,  I  recommend  that  the 
State  be  divided  into  a  convenient  number  of  districts,  and  that 
the  County  Alliances  of  each  district  meet  on  successive  days.  By 
this  means  every  County  Alliance  could  be  visited  by  a  State  offi- 
cer at  the  same  quarterly  meeting  at  a  small  cost  from  each  county. 
I  am  sure  that  the  beneficial  results  would  come  from  such  con- 
secutive meetings. 

THE  AMENDMENTS  TO  OUR  CHARTER. 

As  you  are  aware,  the  last  Legislature  amended  our  charter  ;  it 
first  attempted  to  repeal  it.  It  is  my  duty  to  lay  before  you  the 
nature  of  the  amendments  that  were  passed,  and  to  inform  you  of 
the  circumstances  connected  with  the  action.  On  the  evening  of 
the  15th  of  February,  I  received  a  telegram  (just  in  time  to  catch 
the  train)  saying  that  a  bill  had  passed  the  House  to  repeal  the 
charter  of  the  State  Alliance.  This  was  the  first  notice  your  chief 
officer  had  received  of  such  action,  or  comtemplated  action.  We 
were  afterwards  informed  that  this  action  was  decided  on  in  a 
secret  political  meeting ;  their  purpose  carefully  kept  from  the 
public,  and  especially  from  your  officers.     Mark  you,  the  action 


of  the  House  was  not  only  plotted  in  secret  and  in  the  dark,  but 
the  bill  was  then  offered,  and  suddenly  rushed  through  all  three 
readings  under  a  suspension  of  the  rules,  without  consideration 
before  a  committee,  under  a  gag  rule  that  cut  off  all  debate  even 
from  the  members  of  the  House.  This  bill,  affecting  thousands  of 
people  as  well  as  a  great  principle  of  justice  and  fair  play,  was 
rushed  through  all  its  three  readings,  and  was  a  law  as  far  as  the 
House  could  make  it  writhin  the  short  space  of  ten  minutes  from 
the  time  it  was  offered.  That  the  bill  would  have  passed  the  Sen- 
ate in  the  same  indecent  and  unfair  haste  the  next  morning  has 
never  been  questioned  or  denied.  But  your  State  officers  (or  a  part 
of  them)  were  on  hand  next  morning  and  demanded  a  hearing. 
Only  after  considerable  effort  and  difficulty  could  we  get  a  hearing 
before  a  committee.  Your  officers  could  not  learn  who  asked  for 
such  action,  or  the  reason  therefor.  We  were  simply  pointed  to  the 
preamble  of  the  bill  which  contained  two  reasons,  viz. 

First.  That  there  were  members  of  the  Alliance  who  were  afraid 
they  were  personally  liable  for  the  debts  (?)  of  the  Alliance. 

Second.  That  there  were  others  who  wanted  to  withdraw  their 
money  from  the  Business  Agency  Fund. 

Your  officers  did  not  stop  to  question  the  correctness  of  the  first 
claim  nor  the  equity  of  the  latter,  for  we  realized  that  we  were  not 
before  a  court  of  equity  and  justice,  but  a  body  that  seemed  to  have 
no  regard  for  either.  ^So  we  at  once  offered  as  a  substitute  for  the 
bill,  two  amendments  to  our  charter  covering  in  full  both  of  the 
complaints  set  out  in  the  bill.  This  fell  like  a  thunder  clap  upon 
the  committee,  and  forced  it  and  the  Legislature  to  show  its  hidden 
and  real  purpose — that  was  to  destroy  the  organization  and  to  put 
our  Business  Agency  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver. 

The  new  charter  which  the  House  offered  was  a  further  proof  of 
this.  It  provided  for  a  re-organization  to  go  into  effect  in  July. 
This  Would  have  disorganized  the  Alliance,  put  its  affairs  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver,  and  left  us  six  months  without  an  organization. 
We  said  the  amendments  fell  like  a  thunder  clap,  and  so  they  did, 
for  in  the  face  of  the  amendments  granting  all  they  asked,  they 
dared  not  pass  the  bill  to  repeal  the  charter.  Thev  were  in  a  hole  ; 
if  they  accepted  the  amendments,  they  failed  to  accomplish  their 
purpose — to  kill  the  Alliance  ;  if  they  refused  to  accept  them,  they 
did  more  than  they  intended — they  killed  themselves. 

In  this  dilemma  the  Legislature  decided  that  it  was  not  ready  to 
take  action.  That  secret  political  meeting  was  called  together 
again,  and  this  time,  we  are  told,  it  was  composed  in  part  of  politi- 
cians and  enemies  of  the  Alliance  not  members  of  the  Legislature. 
This  meeting,  according  to  their  own  definition,  being  secret,  and 
being  polical,  must  have  been  what  they  call  "Gideon's  Band." 
After  much  caucusing  day  by  day,  and  night  after  night,  they 
decided  to  accept  our  amendments  by  adding  six  more  amendments 
which,  for  partisan  unfairness  and  discriminating  injustice  and  cow- 
ardly meanness,  there  has  never  before  been  a  parallel  to  so  strain 
the  statute  books  of  North  Carolina. 

Under  one  of  these  amendments,  if  you  were  to  increase  the  sal- 
ary of  my  successor  from  the  enormous  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars 


a  year  to  the  still  more  enormous  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  and 
one  cent,  your  charter  would  be  forfeited.  Or  if  you  were  to 
increase  the  salary  of  the  Secretary  of  a  County  Alliance  from  four 
dollars  a  year  to  five  dollars  a  year,  the  effect  would  be  the  same. 

Under  another  amendment,  if  one  of  your  officers  falls  to  perform 
certain  duties  in  a  time,  it  did  not  provide  that  the  officer  shall  be 
fined,  or  be  liable  on  his  bond,  but  that  the  whole  charter  of  the 
State  Alliance  shall  be  forfeited. 

Another  of  these  amendments  tries  to  tie  up  the  proceeds  of  the 
organization  to  prevent  your  executive  committe  from  using  its 
discretion  in  using  the  fund  to  further  the  interests  of  the  organir 
zation. 

Another  amendment  makes  it  unlawful  for  any  member  of  the 
organization  to  pass  a  resolution  calling  upon  your  representatives 
to  pass,  or  forbear  from  passing  certain  laws,  and  makes  it  lawful 
only  for  you  to  discuss  such  all-absorbing  questions  as  on  what  time 
of  the  moon  to  plant  pepper,  etc. 

All  these  amendments  are  inspired  by  one  purpose  and  object,  to 
get  a  pretext  to  rob  you  of  your  charter,  and  to  place  the  business 
of  the  organization  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  or  rather  of  a  politi- 
cal party. 

And  any  other  corporation  or  organization  that  gets  in  the  way 
of  the  machine  is  liable  to  be  treated  in  the  sjflnae  manner.  In  the 
same  way,  and  with  equally  as  much  justice,  a-iaw  might  be  passed 
to  make  it  unlawful  for  any  city  board  of  trade  to  pass  a  petition 
to  Congress.  Or  a  charter  of  a  railway  company  might  be  amended, 
by  making  it  liable  to  forfeit  its  charter  if  the  salary  of  a  brakeman 
or  of  the  President  of  the  road  is  increased  even  the  slightest 
amount.  Or  if  the  stockholders  of  the  road  at  any  of  their  meet- 
ings discuss  anything  but  rates  and  fares,  or  if  any  conductor 
should  fail  to  bring  any  train  into  a  station  on  time,  then  the  char- 
ter of  the  whole  corporation  to  be  forfeited. 

The  dark  days  of  reconstruction,  the  "mongrel"  Legislatures,  and 
the  "kangaroo  konvenshun"  of  ,69  zhow  nothing  that  is  a  parallel 
in  such  discriminating  unfairness  and  partisan  injustice. 

Now,  in  conclusion,  brethren,  while  these  amendments  are  unjust, 
they  are  law.  So  let  us  urge  upon  you  as  law-abiding  citizens,  to 
observe  and  obey  them,  while  you  must,  for  in  doing  so  you  will 
show  great  patience,  strength  and  forbearance.  But  if  you  allow 
another  election  to  pass  without  using  all  honorable  and  lawful 
means  in  your  power  to  blot  them  off  the  statute  books,  then  we 
will  be  wanting  in  manhood,  and  unworthy  of  justice.  We  could 
not  expect  any  better  from  a  body  of  men,  the  majority  of  whom 
hold  their  positions  by  dishonest  means,  by  wholesale  bribery  and 
fraud.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  party,  which  that  Legislature 
claims  to  represent,  does  not  approve  of  its  actions.  The  rank  and 
file  of  all  parties  are  honest  and  fair  minded,  beyond  the  lines  of 
partisan  prejudice.  Therefore  allow  me,  as  my  last  official  utter- 
ance to  you,  to  call  upon  every  Allianceman  in  North  Carolina,  and 
to  appeal  to  every  fair-minded,  honest  man  out  of  the  organization, 
to  use  every  honorable  effort  of  talent  and  means  and  influeuce  to 
eject  a  Legislature  to  not   only  wipe  out  this  disgrace  from  our 


9 

statute  books,  but  to  also  to  wipe  the  force-bill  election  law  from 
our  statute  books,  which  makes  it  possible  for  a  corrupt  machine 
in  a  party  to  defeat  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the  people.  If  our 
government  stands,  and  we  retain  our  liberties,  the  will  of  the  ma- 
jority must  triumph  over  the  dictatious  of  a  dangerous,  autocratic, 
domineering  and  irresponsible  minority  among  us.  This  must  be 
done  to  keep  pure  even  our  churches,  and  to  prevent  the  livery  of 
heaven  from  being  used  as  a  cloak  for  the  agency  of  Satan.  This 
must  be  done  before  the  Alliance  can  proceed  with  its  great  ori- 
ginal purpose,  to  elevate  mankind  mentally,  socially,  morally  and 
financially. 

The  aims  of  the  Alliance  are  high,  and  its  purposes  are  noble. 
but  justice  must  reign  under  an  honest  government  controlled  by 
the  will  of  a  majority,  to  make  its  noble  mission  possible.  To  this 
immediate  work  I  commend  and  urge  you,  and  to  your  assistance 
should  come  all  ho;:e-t  men  from  eve ry where. 


The  Address  of  Cyrus  Thompson  State 

Lecturer  of  N.  C.  Farmers'  State 

Alliance  at  Greensboro,  N.  C. 


Lack  of  funds  for  the  use  of  this  department,  in  consequence  of  recent 
amendments  to  our  charter,  has  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  take  the 
field  as  Lecturer.  But  as  representing  the  Business  Agency,  by  direction 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  I  have  addressed  the  public  on  some  seventy 
occasions,  in  twenty -four  counties,  since  the  13th  of  April,  1893.  Brother 
J.  T.  B.  Hoover  has  represented  the  Agency  in  a  number  of  other  coun- 
ties, and  has  done  noble  work  in  upbuilding  the  Order.  The  brethren 
everywhere  have  treated  us  both  with  unbounded  kindness  and  rendered 
us  material  assistance  in  the  work. 

In  the  face  of  all  the  Order  has  had  to  contend  against,  it  is  now  rap- 
idly improving  both  in  spirit  and  in  numbers.  Although  sensible  men  of 
whatever  party  affiliation  see  and  know  that  the  charge  so  industriously 
repeated  by  our  enemies,  that  "the  Alliance  left  its  first  principles  and 
became  partisan,"  is  utterly  unfounded  in  fact,  yet  the  charge  continues 
to  be  made,  and  it  will  continue  to  be  made  by  any  and  every  political 
party  in  turn  on  losing  the  support  of  a  majority  of  Alliancemen.  If  the 
Order  were  partisan,  however,  it  would  not  be  terrible  in  the  eyes  of  par- 
tisans, and  the  charge  of  partisanship  would  cease.  It  has  never  been 
brought  by  a  party  benefited  by  the  support  of  a  majority  of  the  Order. 
It  is  only  when  the  party  ox  is  gored,  through  "lack  of  confidence,"  by 
our  non-partisan  bull  that  the  ox  bellows  out  partisanship.  If  the  bull 
gored  some  other  ox  and  helped  this  one,  in  the  eye  of  this  ox  such  action 
would  be  thoroughly  non-partisan. 

The  principles  of  the  Alliance,  as  I  understand  and  teach  them,  are  the 
same  to-day  as  in  the  beginning.     Its  first  declaration  of  purposes  was, 


10 

"To  labor  to  educate  the  agricultural  classes  in  the  science  of  economical 
government  in  a  strictly  non-partisan  spirit."  The  mission  of  the  Order 
is  to  educate,  because  all  individual  and  national  evils  originate  in  igno- 
rance ;  to  educate  '"in  the  science  of  economical  government,"  which  is 
politics,  because  the  evils  we  complain  of  are  political,  fastened  upon  us 
by  political  action  grounded  in  political  ignorance,  and  to  be  gotten  rid 
of  only  by  political  action  based  upon  political  wisdom ;  to  educate  "in 
a  strictly  non-partisan  spirit,"  because  political  teaching  and  study  in  a 
partisan  spirit  tends  blindly  to  secure  the  supremacy  of  a  party  regardless 
of  the  effect  upon  political  truth  and  the  popular  welfare.  And  this  exhi- 
bition of  party  spirit  is  equally  ruinous  under  whatever  name.  It  is  the 
true  Allianceman's  purpose  to  serve  the  ends  of  no  political  party,  whether 
Democratic,  Republican  or  People's,  but  to  make  every  political  party 
serve  the  interests  of  every  legitimate  industry ;  and  this  can  be  done  only 
as  we  educate  men  to  be  wise  and  patriotic  rather  than  partisan ;  to  look 
upon  all  parties  as  faithless  unless  forced,  and  to  be  rendered  faithful  and 
servants  at  all  only  under  the  constant  eye  of  a  master  ready  to  punish. 

Along  the  line  of  such  education  we  have  done  much,  and  bitter  expe- 
rience of  progressive  ruin  keeps  ceaseless  school  among  the  blind  devo- 
tees of  all  parties.  The  increasing  burden  of  oppression  is  the  best  eye- 
opener.  The  most  irresistible  of  all  teachers,  the  one  seen  and  heard  by 
the  weaker  in  every  avocation,  is  hard  times,  the  God  of  Liberty's  loudest 
appeal  to  men  to  be  free.  The  people  are  more  nearly  non-partisan 
to-day  than  ever  before. 

From  the  beginning  the  Alliance  has  been  a  political  organization  and, 
if  true  to  its  first  principles,  it  will  always  continue  to  be.  There  could 
be  no  excuse  for  its  existence  otherwise.  But  it  was  not  partisan  in  the 
beginning,  nor  is  it  partisan  now.  If  it  were  said  to  be  partisan  in  1892, 
for  as  good  reason  it  was  partisan  in  1888  and  in  1890,  in  which  years  the 
charge  of  partisanship  was  not  made.  It  endeavors  to  teach,  but  in  no 
other  way  does  it  interfere  with  one's  political  notions.  It  desires  unity 
as  essential,  but  it  prefers  charity  in  all  things  as  being  the  only  method 
of  securing  the  unity  desired.  All  teaching  is  done  in  love,  and  to  fulfill 
our  mission  we  must  individually  exercise  this  blessed  spirit  not  only 
toward  the  Agricultural  classes,  but  toward  ajl  classes  who  suffer  with  us 
a  common  oppression. 


//-: 


